Illuminate
by TKDSoldier
Summary: Ashley is stationed on Illium to help keep the peace. Jacob is there to protect Asari politicians and businesses. An unlikely meeting between a soldier who wanted glory and one who never cared for it. Between protecting Illium's interest maybe they can learn something new from one another.
1. Chapter 1

Tried a story with these two characters, didn't like the way it was going so this a new one.

Disclaimer: Mass Effect is owned by Bio Ware and EA, any use of characters is purely fan made.

 _Illium_

 _Grand Hotel Gym_

 _0600_

Ashley panted heavily at the target in front of her. Her muscles were burning with pain and her legs felt like they were being tied down by bricks. Wearing a black tank top and shorts she felt like her body was on fire as sweat continued to run down her body. While Ashley's opponent was the punching bag, what it represented was the struggles of her past.

 _"I'm sorry Williams but I can't accept your request to Space Duty." Her CO told her with his hands under his chin._

 _"What!" A young Ashley exclaimed. "I can out run, shoot, and perform any male marine on this planet!" Ashley said her arms slammed on the CO's desk._

Ashley started to throw jabs at the punching bag while moving around.

 _"That might be true, but with your "family history" there is no way I can approve this." her CO paused for a second a slight smile curving on his face. "However, there might be other ways we can work something out." Her CO said rising from his chair._

 _He had a creepy looking smile on his face as he walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder._

Ashley started to put some more power to the bag as she started combining her jabs with straights.

 _Ashley knew what this guy was thinking and didn't like it. She turned to face and put her arms around his neck._

 _"Oh sir, if you say so." Ashley said going in for a "kiss"._

 _Before Ashley got close to his face she brought her knee up to his groin...hard._

 _Her CO went to the the ground grabbing his balls and wincing in pain._

 _"Disgusting pervert, next time I'll break both your nuts." Ashley said as she left the office fuming with rage._

The punches Ashley was throwing at the bag grew with more intensity. She threw a rapid pace of uppercuts with such force it almost felt as if the whole room was shaking with her fury. Finally after about a minute of this intensity, she collapsed on the floor.

Her lungs were on fire and she felt like she could no longer move. She decided to just lay on the floor for awhile to catch her breath and try to relax.

"They always wanted something extra." Ashley said looking at the ceiling.

Ashley had been thinking about her past problems when it came moving up the ranks while in the Alliance and the few chances she _had_ always included some type of extra service. While Ashley was a loyal Marine, she was no slut who was going to fuck her way to the top. She knew people, some who did it, and considered them the lowest of the low.

It was funny reflecting on it because she never thought she would be where she was now.

 _"Spectre Ashley Williams"_ Ashley thought to herself with a slight giggle inside her.

She never thought she would be a Spectre. Never thought she would help save the galaxy. Never thought she would have served with the great Commander Shepherd.

 _Shepherd... greatest leader I ever met, I hope you found peace._ Ashley closed her eyes as she said a small prayer for her late Commander.

They never found his body, but seeing as it's been over a year since the Reaper War everyone just assumed the worse. While the Reapers were help rebuilding the galaxy, and peace remained though most of the systems, it didn't mean this female Spectre's job was done.

Since the Asari world's took most of the damage and the fact that the cat was outta the bag that they had Prothean technology for centuries, well it rubbed some alien species the wrong way. Illium, while still a very expensive place to live, still had a hotbed of white collar crime.

So the Asari Councilar wanted Williams to live there for while to keep the peace and protect the Asari worlds from "reprisals".

Speaking of which, one of the elite businesswomen of Illium was set to give a speech later today and was also being targeted by some a supposed Batarian hitman. Though since Ashley has been here they have mostly been fanatics and small level thugs, too easy for someone with her skills.

"It would be nice not having to do all this crap alone." Ashley out loud.

While her expenses here were all paid for, thanks to the Asari Councilor the constant need to protect all the important people on this place could take a toll. Outside of working or going to the range, she didn't have much of a social life here.

Ashley glanced at a nearby clock and looked at the time. Spectres don't get to rest for long. She managed to pull her self up and got ready to make her way back to her room and into the shower.

As she washed her self she went back to her thoughts.

"Maybe something interesting will happen today." Ashley as she turned the water off.

* * *

Jacob was relaxed, breathing calmly as he looked down the scope. He extended the target to almost 1000 meters out, as far as the machine would let him go. He didn't need his biotics for this shot, for it was a shot he made countless times.

Jacob squeezed the trigger of the sniper rifle and felt the immediate kick back of its buttstock hitting his shoulder.

The target flew off the screen and a short _ding_ sounded off hinting that he hit it center mass.

Jacob stood up and looked down the target lane and smiled. He still had it, and most of all didn't need to use his biotic powers.

"A little target practice can do the mind wonders." Jacob said picking up his sniper rifle and looking at it.

Jacob had been spending more time in the range as of late. Honestly the range or gym was all he could afford on his free time while out here at Illume when he wasn't protecting some Asari big shot.

Jacob didn't mind it though, since it _was_ Illium he knew the higher ups here would pay good money for good protection. And what good money it was. Jacob was making more bank here then he ever did when he was at Cerberus. Unlike human employers, the Asari always made sure to pay there people good and didn't try to short change either.

It also helped that Jacob was damn good at his job.

Since coming to Illium not that long ago, he has made somewhat of a name for himself as one of the best body guards in the Athena Nebula. It even earned him the compliments of a few Justicars on a couple occasions.

"Gotta see if I can adjust the cooldown on this bad boy." Jacob said examining his Sniper rifle and placing it in his duffel bag.

Jacob left the range and headed back to his apartment near the upper section of Illium. This type of apartment would normally be out of his pay range, but he helped the landlord when some mercs were out for his head. As thanks he gave Jacob a discount that allowed him to live here.

When Jacob entered his room, he checked his computer monitor for his next job offer. An important Asari was giving a speech later today and wanted Jacob to make sure some Batarian didn't come to harm her. Jacob took a second to look over what her payment was going to be and nodded his head.

"Looks good." Jacob nodded his head with what he saw.

"100,000 credits is real good.' Jacob said again with a slight grin.

Jacob got his equipment ready and prepared to make his way out to the location where the speech was supposed to take place. As Jacob got ready to leave he thought to himself for a moment. This type of work while it did pay well, could get tiresome at times, though it did help to forget the uncomfortable things about his past.

"Wonder what dad would think about this." Jacob said as he left his apartment.

Note: in this Story Jacob never met Brynn Cole.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect.

 _Zhu Stadium_

 _1200 pm_

 _Name: Assana Danti_

 _Occupation: CEO of Asari Biotic Tech_

 _Age: 200 years_

"Not bad for someone so young, at least by Asari standards." Jacob said as he scrolled though his datapad sitting in a bleacher seat.

Jacob arrived early at the facility where the speech was supposed to take place to survey the area. He was wearing black jeans with a black long sleeve shirt and armed himself with a pistol with a scope and a silencer hidden in his duffel bag. He didn't normally take armor on assignments like this thanks to his biotic barrier, it also could draw too much attention to him.

The stadium was filled with mostly security staff, prep crews, and police to help set up security measures. Assana provided him with clearance to enter the building so no one on the staff gave him any flak for being here. It might have ruffled a few feathers because humans were still a little rare on Illium but overall Jacob had no trouble.

"This place is big enough to fill a Biotic Ballgame." Jacob was looking around the stadium impressed with it's size.

He did notice though that they had completely closed off a section of the stadium so that no one would be facing the backside of the speaker. A smart move, that made it so everyone would be facing Assana's front side.

"Given the distance between the stands and the podium for an attack to be successful someone would have to be close to move in for a kill." Jacob looked at the group of chairs that were in front of the podium.

There were about a good hundred chairs there, enough for someone to possibly slip through.

"I'll position myself toward one of the far corners, that way if I can't get a clean shot Lift should do the trick." Jacob thought to himself.

As Jacob was setting up his strategy, he received a call on his Omni tool.

It was Assana, she was mostly an ocean blue Asari but had a slight purple hue to her and suprsingly no markings on her face.

"Mr. Taylor, I appreciate you agreeing to sit in on this speech." Assana was speaking in a business like manner. "As you can see the sheer amount of guest arriving demanded that I hire extra security here." Assana spoke with such grace as all Asari did, at least here on Illium.

"Well, you did want someone good after all and I _aim_ to please." Jacob smirked a little at his pun.

"Indeed you have a pretty good reputation." Assana gently bowed her head, a custom practice. "Though I have to inform you, there will be a Spectre here in the area attending the speech also." Assana told Jacob.

"Spectre?" Jacob was a little puzzled. Technically Illium was still in the Terminus systems and didn't fall under Council jurisdiction. While it was a gateway for several trades between council worlds it didn't have to obey any of the Council's trade clauses.

"Don't worry Mr. Taylor." Assana assured him. "The Spectre is here as a wing mostly of the Asari Councilor, to maintain stability on Illium and other Asari colonies." Assana said.

"Then why would you need my services, a Spectre should be more then enough." Jacob still was curious.

"Well as you know, people here still aren't trustful of Spectres being in the Termius systems, and if I requested her myself it might not have looked good to my business associates." Assana was talking like a business consultant. "So if she's here to keep the peace, it gives less suspicion to me."

Jacob gave a silent groan, while he still respected them, he also knew they could be wildly unpredictable.

"Don't worry you will still be paid in full." Assana reassured him. "Look I have to go, again thank you for your sevices." Assana hung up and Jacob turned put down his Omni Tool.

Jacob wasn't completely surprised Assana didn't want the help of the Spectre. Illium while a very rich colony, still had executives of all types in shady dealings. Truth be told there was no way to move up the corporate ladder in Illium without getting your hands a little dirty rather it be through questionable contracts... or people disappearing.

Jacob shrugged his shoulders.

"Not my place to judge anymore." Jacob thought to himself. His days of playing hero were long gone, it's one of the reasons he enjoyed working in the Terminus systems now, there was a slight freedom and less inclination to always do the right thing. Also for the first time in what seemed like forever he enjoyed not taking orders from others. No Alliance, no Corsairs, no Cerberus, no Illusive Man, but there was one guy he missed a little.

"Shepherd...now that was a _real_ leader." Jacob said looking up at the sky.

Jacob had profound respect and admiration for his late commanding officer. At one time Jacob even wanted to be remembered the way Shepherd was now, as someone who always stood for justice.

But that was then.

Jacob snapped out of his gaze and got back to rehearsing the job that lay before him now.

* * *

Hundreds of Asari were seated around the arena in Zhu Stadium. The Asari female that Ashley was watching over named Assana Danti was sitting next to the podium waiting to give her speech about rebuilding the Asari name and helping their economy, while Ashley was standing next to to her. Ashley however, wasn't really entertained.

Ashley was wearing her black and blue formal outfit. Ashley has originally wanted to wear her armor, but Assana requested she bee a little more reflective of the environment.

"I've never liked speeches, especially formal ones." Ashley thought to herself.

It didn't matter that if they were military ceremonies, political rally's, or even fundraisers, Ashley abhorred listening at these kinds of events. For one she mostly distrusted politicians, assuming they were always liars and ever since arriving on Illium Ashley realized the business ethics were very low on this planet's pecking order.

"Oh well, that's the life of a Spectre." Ashley thought to herself as began to survey the crowd.

The intel she received said that it was supposed to be a Batarian that was planning on disrupting the event. Most of the crowd was seated in the bleachers and there were about a hundred chairs near the podium for special guest. Though she couldn't spot any Batarian anywhere.

The people in the front seats were mostly Asari, and an attack from the bleachers were too far away, and even a novice assassin would know better than to shoot from that position. Thankfully the section of the stadium behind them was blocked off, meaning she didn't have to worry about her rear.

She also picked up a human male who was standing in the back, his stance was rigid almost like someone who used to be in the military, he was wearing all black and reminded her of Marine guards you would see at ceremonies.

" _Probably a bodyguard for one of the guest."_ Ashley thought to herself.

"And now it is my privilege to introduce the CEO of Asari Biotic Tech, Assana Danti! _"_ the Asari who was giving the introduction spoke.

Assana gracefully rose from her seat and walked to the podium bowing at the Asari who gave the introduction. Assana began her speech, while she was talking Ashley was continued searching for any suspicious movement.

"It has to be someone in one of the seats in the front." Ashley thought to herself as she surveyed the guest.

As Ashley looked, it was nothing but an ocean of blue Asari sitting in the crowd, but out of the corner of her eye she spotted one Asari who was looking uncomfortable. The Asari was sitting in the last seat on the far right side, and was constantly shifting in her seat.

Ashley looked at her watch, it had been about 8 minutes, Assana told her the speech would last about ten. If anything was going to happen it would be happening soon.

The two minutes passed and Assana was wrapping up her speech.

"I hope we can lead the Asari to a better future and restore our colonies to their former glory!" Assana finished and the crowd gave applause.

Ashley still kept a watchful gaze at the Asari at the far right who also standing and clapping from her seat. Something was definitely off about her though, but Ashley couldn't put her finger on it. Ashley gripped the pistol on her waist and motioned for Assana to hurry off the stage.

Assana walked towards while waving and bowing at the crowd.

"Alright, let's get you to your spacecraft Mrs. Assana." Ashley told as they walked down the podium.

As Ashley and Assana were getting ready to leave the stage she heard the crowd's screams of joy turn to screams of panic.

Ashley quickly turned around and noticed where the Asari she was staring at before, was now a Batarian raising a pistol toward her direction. It was all happening in slow motion and it felt as if time was standing still.

Ashley pushed Assana away and rushed to grab her pistol from her holster.

She quickly aimed, palms on the grip, and gently squeezed the trigger.

 _click_

Ashley's eyebrows raised up, and heart was jumping out of her chest.

 _"I didn't load the magazines!"_ Ashley had put them on her side not wanting to risk a negligent discharge in front of Assana.

The Batarian noticed Ashley wasn't firing and knew that her weapon wasn't loaded, he smiled as he got ready to open fire.

Ashley closed her eyes and braced for the gunshot, she had armor on and prayed that this Batarian was a horrible shot.

It felt like she was waiting for hours, but no gunshot was ever heard.

Ashley slowly opened her eyes and was shocked to see that the Batarian was being lifted off the ground with a blue aura around him.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect.

Author's note: I'm deeply sorry for the long wait, between exams and work I my schedule was more busy than I thought, don't worry I will still continue this story.

After what she has been through in life, she thought not many things could surprise her anymore.

Surprised she was.

The Batarian screamed loudly as he floated through the air, flaying to no avail as the blue aura swirled around him. Ashley took the chance to load a fully loaded magazine into her pistol and took aim at the Batarian's leg.

 _bang_

"Agh!" The Batarian wailed in pain falling onto the floor with several Asari police surrounding him, he wasn't going to be going anywhere no time soon.

Ashley took a look around making sure there was no second shooter anywhere, afterward she took a knee and radioed to Assana to make sure she was safe.

"Ms. Danti are you okay?" Ashley asked the adrenaline she felt earlier subsiding.

"I'm secure, thank God for hired help." Dante said over the comm.

 _"Hired help?"_ Ashley thought to herself.

Then Ashley remembered that someone, probably a biotic had lifted the batarian allowing her to take the shot. She was so focused on eliminating the threat she didn't see who had helped her.

"Assana, who was the Asari you hired to help you? Ashley asked.

"I'm sorry Ms. Williams but I can't relay that due to contractual obligations, I can tell you that it wasn't an Asari. Assana relayed. "Now if you'll excuse me I must sweep my office and home for additional threats."

Ashley hung up without saying goodbye.

"Human, has to be with biotic powers like that, hmm time to take a trip to the police office and check the cameras.

* * *

Ashley arrived at the main police station on Illium. It was quite a commotion considering what happened earlier today, it showed with several Asari officers running around the place. Ashley made her way though the halls in front of Chief Officer Dara's office .

Ashley entered without knocking, and saw Officer Dara looking at something on her desk.

"I hope this is something important Spectre Williams, as you know I've been quite _busy_ today." Dara spoke never taking her eyes off the screen.

"It won't be long Officer Dara, I just need a few questions concerning today." Ashley said.

"Hell, I would like some questions myself, like who was running security today." Dara was rubbing her hand through her hand, stressed from a long day.

Ashley has been there several times herself.

"Has the Batarian been brought in yet?"

"No, we had to take him to the hospital due his injuries, we have a 24hr guard on his room and once stable he'll be brought in for interrogation." Dara paused then looked at Ashley "We'll keep you updated on his situation."

"Thank you." Ashley said nodding her head.

"What else was on your mind Williams?"

"Do you have camera footage of the people present at the ceremony?"

"My Officers are going through it as we speak, but can't spot anybody else besides the Batarian." Dara said.

"I just need to know if there were any humans that stood out there." Ashley asked hoping to get a lead.

"Well, there was only one human there, we've seen him before, hes normally hired himself out for several Asari execs here from time to time." Dara said.

"Is he a mercenary?" Ashley asked.

"No, no, he normally does protection or helps us retrieve stolen and sensitive equipment." Dara explained.

Ashley was a little confused. "How do you guys let someone play vigilante here, and can't this interfere with the law?

Dara gave a smile.

"Williams, this is _Illium,_ if someone is contracted by the Asari big wigs here and if they don't directly interfere with business their normally free to do as they please, as long as innocents are safe and damaged is kept to a minimum."

Ashley rolled her eyes.

"In short were a safer more expensive version of Omega...just without the Vorcha." Dora said.

"Do you have a name for me?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah, I believe his name is Taylor, Jacob Taylor." Dara said.

Ashley thanked Dara and left the police station. As Ashley hoped into her aircraft, she thought to herself for a minute.

 _"Jacob Taylor, where have I heard that name before?_


	4. Chapter 4

Tried a story with these two characters, didn't like the way it was going so this a new one.

Disclaimer: Mass Effect is owned by Bio Ware and EA, any use of characters is purely fan made.

 _Illium_

 _Nora's Bar_

Nora's Bar was an a pretty decent place if you wanted to get away form the uptight life of Illium and let yourself loose for awhile. The typical crowd here normally featured the young Asari who were just entering the workforce, Salarian scientist taking a break from their hectic work schedules, and several former and current military/police/mercs who needed to unwind.

Jacob was the latter.

It had become routine for Jacob to drink after a job no matter what the difficulty of it. There were times he drank to celebrate making it out of alive and there were times Jacob drunk just to have some excitement from a boring day. Either way he came here so frequently the bartender and several patrons new him by name.

"Another drink Taylor?" the Asari bartender asked him.

Jacob held up his empty glass. "Keep them coming." he exclaimed

The bartender poured him a another glass and slid it to him.

As Jacob stared at the glass he thought about the events of that day.

"I'm always pulling some woman's ass out of the fire." Jacob thought to himself.

Jacob had watched the whole event unfold when he see saw the batarian rushing toward the podium. By the time the batarian took off Jacob was already getting ready to use Pull to throw the batarian off balance. He also saw how the Spectre either got spooked or forgot to load her weapon.

"Wondered why I felt compelled to help her." Jacob asked to himself while sipping his drink.

Jacob could have took the shot himself, but figured he'd let the Spectre redeem herself, besides Jacob would have just killed the Batarian instead of just injuring him. He assumed the Spectre lady wanted to interrogate him to see what he knew.

Jacob continued to drink for a while until he decided to head back to his place.

"You done for the day Taylor?" the bartender asked him.

"Yeah, I think I'll head back to my place and get some sleep." Jacob said stretching.

"Well, you don't have to worry about the tab, that lady at the end of the bar paid your bill." the bartender said.

Jacob looked over and saw the human Spectre from earlier holding a glass in her hand, she was motioning for Jacob to join her.

Jacob walked over to her and saw that she was wearing jeans and a black shirt. He also noticed that she had a holster on her. Ashley took notice of Jacob staring at her weapon.

"I would ask if you like a demonstration, but you've already seen it haven't you Jacob?" Ashley took a swig of her drink. "Ex-Alliance, ex-cerberus, and my personal favorite, served under Commander Shepherd." Ashley said slipping Jacob her datapad.

Jacob skimmed though it, and then slipped it back to Ashley. What is it with women always finding him drinking in a bar, first Miranda all those years ago, and now this Spectre woman.

" _I need to stop hanging out in bars, maybe I'll try Asari strip clubs next_." Jacob thought to himself.

"So how much did you know about Commander Shepherd?" Ashley didn't know much about the people who helped Shepherd take down the Collector base. During the war she never got a chance to ask Shepherd about it, and she wasn't as close to Tali or Garrus back then to inquire.

"Before I tell you, I thinks it's fair that you give me your name." Jacob said folding his arms.

"Fair enough, I'm Spectre Ashley Williams." Ashley told him.

Jacob heard that name from somewhere.

Jacob recognized that name, Ashley Williams was stationed on Eden Prime during the geth attack and helped Shepherd take down Saren. It had been several years since the Lazaurs Project and Jacob hadn't thought about it in years. While he knew about her, this was the first time seeing her in the flesh.

"So you were the one of the ones who helped Shepherd take down Saren during the battle at the Citadel, huh?" Jacob said.

"That and served under him while fighting the Reapers." Ashley motioned for the tab. "Now how much did you know Commander Shepherd?"

"I'll put it like this there hasn't been many people I've trusted in my lifetime, especially while I was working for Cerberus, but Shepherd was one of the few people who I actually admired and respected." Jacob said taking a seat next to Ashley.

Ashley took a look at him. He was wearing a white t-shirt with black pants and was surprisingly well built, she could tell he stayed in good shape like herself.

"So did you come down here just to ask me that?" Jacob asked her.

Ashley stopped looking and turned to face him.

"First, let me say thank you for helping my ass out back there." Ashley said.

Jacob chuckled

"Well, your not the _first_ damsel I've had to rescue."

"Hold on there cowboy, you may have helped me, but I'm far from a damsel." Ashley said.

"The way you looked when that round didn't go told me otherwise." Jacob smirked.

Ashley leaned on the counter and clasped her hands.

"Even a Spectre's make mistakes sometimes, trust me I don't make many." Ashley said.

Jacob simply nodded his head. "Uh huh"

Ashley took the moment to size up Jacob. One thing she could tell was that he kept himself in good shape by the way his sleeves hugged his body. His posture and demeanor showed that he did have plenty of combat experience, though he displayed that earlier today. She could also tell that he was armed with the holster attached to his waist.

"Do you always keep your pistol with you? Ashley asked.

"Never can be to careful here, Illium is nice but still have their crazies." Jacob said.

"Interesting, I have the same philosophy." Ashley showed him her pistol.

Jacob did like the piece she carried on her.

"Look, Jacob I would like to see if you can give me a hand here on Illium."

Jacob raised an eyebrow.

"What do you need my help for?" Jacob asked.

"You've been here longer than me and you have more connections, you can also go to places I can't since were outside Council Space." Ashley said.

Ashley could use the help, while she may be a Spectre it wasn't like she had a crew here or a Class A ship. Her ship was big enough for about two people not counting the Geth she had that acted as a pilot. Having another human watching her back also gave her a slight ease. Though from the look on Jacob's face he wasn't to keen on doing it.

"I don't know, when someone asks me for help it's always how I can benefit them." Jacob was crossing his arms.

"I see, but your not working _for_ me your working _with_ me, and I'm just trying to maintain peace and order here on Illium. I've got no secrets to hide from you and trust me I'll be 100 percent honest with you all the time." Ashley told him.

Jacob looked at Ashley for a second and studied her face. It had been something I he learned to do with while working with Cerberus, looking for the hidden bs in people's message and trying to gauge if they were real with him. It worked most of the time, Miranda and the Illusive man were the few people he could never figure out.

From what he saw in Ashley, she looked completely honest to him.

"Alright Williams, you seem like your legit, but I'd like to see how you handle certain situations." Jacob said.

"Oh believe me, what you saw earlier was a fluke." Ashley said.

TAYLOR!

Jacob and Ashley turned around and noticed a group of about three turians pointing towards Jacob.

"Are these friends of yours?" Ashley asked.

"I put one of their bosses in jail a while back, I guess they weren't happy about it." Jacob said going for his gun, but Ashley stopped him.

"You want to see what I got Taylor, just watch." Ashley said as she moved towards the three turians.


End file.
